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Book Review: The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee

Oct 10, 2016

The Thousandth Floor

Pages: 437
Publish date: August 30th 2016
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0008179972
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.

A thousand-storey tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible – if you want it enough.

A hundred years in the future, New York’s elite of the super-tower lie, backstab and betray each other to find their place at the top of the world. Everyone wants something… and everyone has something to lose.

As the privileged inhabitants of the upper floors recklessly navigate the successes and pitfalls of the luxury life, forbidden desires are indulged and carefree lives teeter on the brink of catastrophe. Whilst lower-floor workers are tempted by a world – and unexpected romance – dangling just out of reach. And on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all – yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

So when a young woman falls from the top of the supertower, her death is the culmination of a scandal that has ensnared the top-floor elite and bottom-floor. But who plummeted from the roof? And what dark secrets led to her fall?

Friends will be betrayed and enemies forged as promises are broken. When you’re this high up, there’s nowhere to go but down…

The Thousandth Floor:

I received a review copy of The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee from Harper Collins Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I feel like I am in the minority regarding this book. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. The concept of the world was fascinating and intriguing, and the plot pulled me in. However, the characters and points of view weren’t as strong.

The Thousandth Floor follows five protagonists, all from the same world of New York 2118 yet they all want something, and have something to lose. It’s a world where reputation, image and who your friends are means everything. The Thousandth Floor is the elite from Gossip Girl of the future.

When someone falls from the highest floor, we are thrown back to what lead up to it. Through the whole novel we ask how someone was able to floor, who was the person that fell. I liked the use of this concept – the reader already knows that someone is going to die, but we don’t know who. As we get to know the character we become more nervous as the novel goes on.

Although I was a fan of the way The Thousandth Floor was set out, I wasn’t a big fan of the five points of view. I felt that I was getting too many thoughts going on my head, too many stories to keep up with. In saying this, each voice was distinct and even without knowing who the reader is with, we are able to know who it is.

Avery Fuller genetically designed to be perfect, living on the thousandth floor seems to have everything, but she’s not. I really enjoyed Avery as a character, her arc was fantastic and as the novel goes on we see her grow, change and realise that she need to be perfect.

Eris Dood-Radson story is heartbreaking. She doesn’t know what to do, her whole life is flipped on its head and everything is falling to pieces. Eris was an easy character to get along with. At times I wanted to shake her, but most of the time I felt like she needed a hug.

Rylin Meyer is not from the elite, but is swept up into the world of luxury and romance. However, she is brought back to reality and is torn between doing what is right and what people are telling her to do. I truly enjoyed Rylin’s story, it was sweet and again heartbreaking at the same time. She is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, taken on a magical adventure.

Watt Bakradi is a tech genius and is the holder of many secrets; most not his own. He is the eyes and ears. He knows everything about everyone. Watt was an interesting character, swept up into the world of the elite that is sometimes hard to get out of.

All Images are from Pinterest

Then we have Leda Cole, who has just came back from a rehabilitation centre and is hiding more than one thing. I disliked Leda a lot. I understand that she had some pretty horrible things going on it her life – but at times the way that she acted, just hit me the wrong way.

At times I felt like the story dragged along too much, and we wanted to know who it was that fell. But then everything else happened around it and it kept on getting further away.

Overall, The Thousandth Floor isn’t just about the glitz, glamour and the life about the elite. The reader is taken on a journey of family, friendship, heartbreak and death. We delve into the minds of young adults in 2118 – where not everything has changed.

There is so much more I could talk about, but I am going to leave it there. Have you read The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee? Did you like it? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

TTT: Six Villains that are fantastically brilliant

Oct 5, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they post a new Top Ten list that members at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. All bloggers are then welcomed to join. This week’s topic is: Top Ten Bookish Villains.

Villains always intrigue me. I love seeing how their minds work, how they have become who they are. I like seeing that some are just plain evil, while others are villains in different ways. My list isn’t particularly long or in an order.

Lada from And I Darken: Lada was fierce and scary and totally took me by surprise. I cannot wait to get into her head again | Review

Voldemort from Harry Potter: Another villain that I find quite interesting, he had a pretty crap upbringing, but still held a prejudice towards people.

Villain from Lady Midnight: Okay so I haven’t named who this person is because the reader doesn’t know until the end. But this person was intriguing and daring. I cannot wait to see what Lord of Shadows brings | Review

Queen Levana from the Lunar Chronicles: Terrifying much. So transfigured and overwhelmed by her desires that she makes a perfect villain.

Sebastian Morgenstern from The Mortal Instruments: Horrifying, manipulative, and oh so evil; yet very interesting.

Lillian from the Worldwalker Trilogy: Does some pretty horrible stuff, is manipulative, but she is not the only evil one | Review Trial by Fire, Firewalker.

Okay so I don’t have a list of 10, but close enough. What are some of your favourite villains? Do we share any? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Firewalker by Josephine Angelini

Oct 2, 2016

Firewalker by Josephine Angelini

Pages: 339
Publish date: August 27th 2015
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books
ISBN: 1447260856
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Lily Proctor has made it back to her own universe, and it’s finally time for her and Rowan to be happy and relax. True, she almost died in the Pyre that fueled their escape, and they must hide her new magic for the safety of the world, but compared to fighting the monstrous Woven and leading armies in the alternate Salem, life is looking good.

Unfortunately, Lillian, ruthless ruler of the 13 Cities, is not willing to let Lily go that easily. Lily is the closest version of herself she’s ever seen in all her worldwalking, and Lillian’s running out of time. If she can’t persuade Lily and Rowan to return to her world, she’ll have to find a way to make them come back.

Firewalker:

There will be spoilers from the previous book Trail by Fire, however, not from Firewalker

I received Firewalker by Josephine Angelini from Pan Macmillan in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I was going into Firewalker with high expectations, I loved Trial by Fire and was waiting for more. However, I was a little let down – however, not a huge amount.

Firewalker begins where we left off; Lily almost dying on the pyre and travelling back to her universe with Rowan in tow. It’s fast-paced and from the start, you don’t know if she is going to make it out alive. Covered in burns and on the brink of death, Rowan once again comes to her rescue.

From the start of Firewalker the reader is able to feel the tension for multiple reasons. At first, we don’t know if Lily will make it through the first couple of chapters. The tension between her family; now that they are back with them. There is tension between Lily and Rowan, Lily and Tristan, Lily and Lillian. The tension grew throughout the book and I really enjoyed, even though it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Lily is one of those protagonists that you love or you hate. Throughout Firewalker, Lily has to deal with the trauma that she had to endure in Trial by Fire, and that was heartbreaking to witness. The reader wants to wrap their arms around her and tell her that she will be okay.

One of the things that I loved most about Firewalker was the friendships. I loved the bonds between everyone, it was beautiful. And even though magic was involved somehow, it didn’t start with it.

The new characters that were introduced were all great and added a layer to the book. Breakfast and Una were really enjoyable to read. They had this banter about them that cut through the intensity of the book.

The romance in Firewalker was frustrating to say the less. There was zero communication between Lily and Rowan, they both avoided speaking about how they really felt and everything was bottled up

I was still feeling a little lost about the world. We found out more in Firewalker, yet some things still confused me – now this might be just me. However, the world that Josephine Angelini is quite fascinating and the world building of the alternate universes’ is quite amazing.

I found that some of the flashbacks and conversations between Lily and Lillian to be distracting. Sometimes I wanted to skip them and get on with the story.

Firewalker | Book Aesthetic – Images from Pinterest

A problem that I did have with the book is I felt that there was a lot going on, maybe too much. I was taken here and there, flashbacks to current time and back. From one universe to another. Nonetheless, I felt that Angelini could have pulled back just a little and it would have flown a little smoother.

The ending, though man – Josephine Angelini sure does love her cliff hangers. Normally I am not a massive fan of them, however, she does them so well that I want to pick up the next book straight away.

Overall, Firewalker by Josephine Angelini is an underrated series that every fantasy lover reader should read. Firewalker is tense, fast-paced, full of magic and demands your attention till the end. Nevertheless, your heart will break, be torn to shreds and beg for more.